


Taking the Plunge

by HazukiNinja



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Banter, Camping, Confessions, Exhausted Team Parents, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Skinny Dipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:47:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28493367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HazukiNinja/pseuds/HazukiNinja
Summary: A series of firsts - Aran’s first camping trip, Iwaizumi’s first time skinny dipping... and maybe one more, if the rest of the national team doesn’t manage to interrupt.Rated T for Language, HQ Rarepair Week 2021
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime/Ojiro Aran
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	Taking the Plunge

It started off as normal bus chatter en route to a practice match for the Japan Men’s National Volleyball Team. Someone coaxed a very-willing Iwaizumi into sharing an embarrassing story about Oikawa, and the athletic trainer kept his enraptured audience in stitches with a story about a disastrous camping trip the Seijoh third years had embarked upon as a “bonding experience” before graduation. He just finished describing how Hanamaki and Matsukawa had lured a raccoon into Oikawa’s tent with a trail of potato chips, and the subsequent trainwreck that ensued, when Hinata suddenly bounced up from his seat with the ultimate sucker-punch: “Hey, we should do a team bonding camping trip! I love camping!” 

“What exactly about any of this story makes you want to go camping?” Yaku sighed. “Did you not hear the bit about mosquito-infested campgrounds and rabid raccoons?”

Unfortunately for the libero, Bokuto and Atsumu’s voices drowned out his protests. “Yes! A camping trip sounds awesome!!” “Hell yeah, Shouyou-kun! Team bonding camping trip!” 

The trio immediately started bullying the rest of the team into agreeing. They quickly managed to suck Hoshiumi, Kageyama, Hyakuzawa, and Ushijima into it, but the rest continued to valiantly resist. 

Aran watched in exasperated amusement as Atsumu pestered an increasingly aggressive Sakusa, then quickly sank low in his seat before a bouncing Bokuto could catch his eye. A rumbling chuckle sounded just above his head. “Not interested in camping?”

Aran rolled his eyes at Iwaizumi. “Not with these hooligans. They’d find a way to kill me, either on purpose or accident. Can you imagine them trying to start a fire?”

Iwaizumi slumped down to match his seatmate and bumped his knee against Aran’s. “I thought you, Atsumu, and Suna were supposed to be country boys. You’re telling me you never set random things on fire when you got bored of tipping cows?” He grinned at Aran’s open-mouthed glare. 

“I don’t even know how to begin to respond to that.”

“It’s honestly surprising only one of your teammates became a farmer.” Iwaizumi rested a hand on Aran’s forearm and gave him an intense, wide-eyed look. “You sure you don’t have any wild urges to abandon civilization and start growing asparagus?”

“ _Abandon_ — Our hometown was only an hour outside Kobe!” 

The two continued to bicker in a practiced, good-natured manner that had developed over the last year. They had quickly hit it off after their initial meeting and Aran found himself stopping by the trainers’ room after practice just to chat. Their tentative friendship was formally solidified after Iwaizumi felt comfortable cracking more than a few dozen jokes at Aran’s expense when he tripped and sprained an ankle walking into the gym. 

Iwaizumi was popular with the team and often included in team activities (whether he wanted to or not), and nights out at bars and movie nights at various apartments found Aran and Iwaizumi sitting next to each other, swapping stories about volleyball and of the never-ending exhaustion of babysitting people like Oikawa and the Miya twins. Eventually, after Aran was left in tears from laughing at “ _Alpha Iwaizumi establishing dominance over the pack via arm wrestling, oh my god I can’t handle it,_ ” Iwaizumi challenged him to an arm wrestling match on the spot. The two positioned themselves around Hoshiumi’s coffee table while people shouted bets above them. Hakuba whispered encouragements behind his fellow Red Falcon while Kageyama loudly bet on Iwaizumi against Atsumu.

A deadly smirk sliced across Iwaizumi’s dark face as their eyes met. Aran felt his heart stutter in response, much to his surprise. _Why am I nervous? I’m a professional athlete._ “So if I win, does that mean all the athletic trainers swear their allegiance to me?” He forced a blasé tone as he reached out his arm, elbow braced against the hard surface. 

“Only if you win.” Iwaizumi stretched his arm across the table to meet him and tightly clasped his hand. Aran felt the calluses and warmth of Iwaizumi’s hand and gave it a reflexive squeeze. He watched something flash in Iwaizumi’s eyes, and then someone started a countdown. 

They were evenly matched to some people’s surprise. The two men strained, arms shaking as they tried to get the other to give an inch, while their friends hooted and hollered around them. Iwaizumi growled in effort while Aran smacked his other hand in a fist against the tabletop. Heavy seconds went by with no distinguishable advantage for either side. 

Aran had been focused on their joined hands, but glanced up at Iwaizumi’s face for a split second. He was surprised to find him staring back. Then, suddenly, Iwaizumi gave a sharp grin and winked. 

Aran’s concentration stuttered, and the momentary distraction was all his opponent needed to slam his hand down against the table in victory with a force that felt like it sprained at least one knuckle. 

Clutching his hand to his chest and glaring at Iwaizumi, who smiled in smug triumph, Aran demanded, “Are you in some sort of underground arm-wrestling league?!” Aran wanted to call the trainer out for the blatant ploy he had used to cheat and catch Aran off-guard, but admitting that all it took was Iwaizumi winking to throw him off would result in no small amount of embarrassment. 

“Quit pouting, loser, you’re just mad I get your spot on the team now. That’s the rules of pack dominance.” 

“I ain’t tossing to you! No way you beat Aran, you must’ve cheated!” Atsumu sputtered.

“Good thing you aren’t the starting setter, Miya. Now pay up.” 

With everyone distracted watching as Hinata heroically tried to separate Kageyama and Atsumu, Iwaizumi leaned over and touched Aran’s hand. “Is your hand actually hurt?”

Aran blinked. “Ah… no, it’s fine.” He offered a rueful grin. “Just a little sore, but not more than my pride.”

Iwaizumi laughed, and the moment was over. The party continued on, and eventually Aran made his way back home. 

However, things didn’t quite return to normal after that evening. 

A week after the arm-wrestling fiasco, the two sat side-by-side at the edge of a group of increasingly-boisterous volleyball players in a noisy bar. They were listening to Heiwajima share a story about the Australian National Team, the Japanese National Team, and a broken water pipe at the previous Olympics when Iwaizumi placed a hand on Aran’s shoulder and squeezed it. “Be back in a minute,” he whispered as he stood. Aran froze, and belatedly turned to watch Iwaizumi walk towards the bathrooms. Physical affection wasn’t uncommon between them before — high-fives, fist-bumps, and occasional smacks — but the casual shoulder-touch surprised Aran. It continued without comment whenever they were near each other. Iwaizumi started to bump their shoulders together at the end of a funny joke or story, and often gave him a squeeze on the shoulder with a “Good work today” at the end of practice. One particular instance, where Iwaizumi’s hand briefly lingered on Aran’s back after he gently pushed him out of the way of a flailing Hoshiumi and Bokuto, kept Aran’s back warm for the rest of the night.

It wasn’t just the touches either. The two would text occasionally, mostly through the group chat with the other team members, but suddenly the frequency increased in their private messages. It wasn’t by much, and it was really nothing more than inane comments and random conversations, but Aran would find himself smiling at his phone before catching himself, realizing he had been loitering in front of the produce section for several minutes with a still-empty basket.

Aran knew that individually the instances didn’t seem like much, but the pattern said… something. He spent more time than he’d like to admit trying to form a theory that didn’t make him sound like he was losing his mind. One embarrassing phone call to Kita, where Aran rambled about a dozen different moments, resulted in a simple question that caused his heart to freeze.

“It’s hard for me to say since I don’t know Iwaizumi personally, but let me ask you this: are you seeing something there because you want it to be?” The line had remained silent for one panicked minute before Kita quietly spoke again. “It’s not a bad thing if that’s the case. It’s important to know your own feelings. If this is something that you want, you should do something about it. Don’t be a passive actor in your own life, Aran. You never have been before.”

Aran had quietly thanked his friend, hung up, and laid in his bed for the next hour staring at nothing. Is this just how Iwaizumi acts when he’s comfortable with someone? He wondered to himself. It was the theory he had been focusing on the most. It was a reasonable line of thinking; a number of players had known each other back in high school, but prior to joining the national team Iwaizumi was only really familiar with Kageyama and Ushijima, and Hinata to a lesser extent. Maybe it just took Iwaizumi a while to warm up to people, and Aran had finally earned his trust. Maybe Iwaizumi would start squeezing Kageyama’s shoulder after practice or texting Komori funny memes. Maybe he already did and Aran just hadn’t noticed.

Maybe Iwaizumi was like this with Oikawa and the rest of his high school and university friends. 

Aran laid on his bed for another hour. Eventually, Kita’s voice cut through the noise in his head: “ _Don’t be a passive actor in your own life, Aran_.”

Flinging out his arm, Aran scrabbled for his phone on the bedside table. Before he could talk himself out of it, he opened his messages with Iwaizumi. _Wanna go to Shibuya this weekend? New athletic goods store opened that I wanted to check out._ He inhaled sharply and hit send.

He had barely set down his phone when it vibrated with a response. _Sure, sounds fun. Sunday morning ok?_

Aran breathed out, and began to plan.

He responded to every joke Iwaizumi texted him with equally bad ones. He sat next to Iwaizumi when he could and tried to initiate the same casual touches Iwaizumi had been doing. One morning, after a week of hyping himself up, he showed up early to practice with a coffee and carefully placed it on Iwaizumi’s desk. “I was running early,” he explained to a pleasantly surprised Iwaizumi, “and you mentioned yesterday that today was gonna be a long one for you, with the extra paperwork and your friend coming up to Tokyo for dinner.”

The nervousness he had felt instantaneously dissipated in the face of the bright smile Iwaizumi gave him. “Thanks, Aran. I really appreciate it.” 

Aran shrugged and flashed a smile of his own. “Gotta keep everyone’s favorite trainer alive. We’ll need you for that practice match with South Korea next week after all.” He turned to walk out of the room when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He looked down at Iwaizumi, who quickly dropped his hand.

“Do you like hiking?”

That wasn’t the question Aran had been expecting, but it was better than the ‘ _Why are you acting so weird?_ ’ he had panickedly envisioned. “Uh, yeah, I guess? I haven’t done much in the last few years though.”

“Have you been to Mount Takao yet? It’s pretty popular, about an hour drive from central Tokyo.”

“No, I haven’t been.”

Iwaizumi fiddled with a pen on his desk. “Wanna go sometime after the practice match? It’s a nice way to relax after all that stress.” 

“Oh. Y-Yeah. Yes. That sounds like fun.”

Iwaizumi smiled with something that looked a lot like relief to Aran. _It’s just a friend thing, it’s just a friend thing_ , he chanted silently to himself. “Great. Let’s figure out the details later, but I’ll plan on driving us.” He held up a hand to Aran’s protests. “I invited you, I’ll drive. You can drive next time if you want.” Iwaizumi’s face puckered as he realized what he said, and Aran nearly punched the air in excitement. “Sounds good to me,” he replied cheerfully, hitching his athletic bag higher up on his shoulder. “I’ll text you later about it, I gotta start getting ready for practice.” He gave a wave and nearly ran out of the room before he could say something stupid. 

The early-morning drive to Mount Takao had been quiet but pleasant, with bits of conversation in the foreground of sips of coffee from travel mugs and Iwaizumi’s smooth driving. The hike was even better, despite the number of people out and about. They ate their packed lunches in a peaceful area just off the trail and traded more personal stories. Aran talked about growing up in Hyogo with his Japanese mother but spending childhood summers in North Carolina with his American father. Iwaizumi admitted to the struggles he faced attending college in California and how he and Ushijima grew surprisingly close. They laughed about weird American things and the things that they missed, and spent the entire downhill trek conversing only in their rusty English. The drive back to central Tokyo was dominated with discussion about where their next hike would be. It became a regular activity for them over the next couple of months, and the two continued to grow closer, much to Aran’s pleasure.

And now here they were, sitting together on the bus, knees and elbows jostling against each other, sharing teasing smiles and smirks as they hid from the rest of the team.

“Admit it, you’d like the farmer life. You and all your 80 year old neighbors could talk about your favorite movies—” 

“Oh my god, so I appreciate the _classics_ —” 

“—at the local community center in between harvesting your produce, and you’d be outside all the time—” 

“This started as a conversation about how I literally do not want to go camping—” 

“Quit interrupting, we literally went hiking last week, I know you like the outdoors.” 

“Yeah, in selective situations, and a hike with you is very different from a weekend camping trip with the Black Jackals and whoever they rope into their mayhem. Which is your fault I’d like to add.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re being ridiculous.” Iwaizumi jumped when Aran roughly poked him in the arm.

“Your muscles are ridiculous. You looking to try out for the team next season and steal my spot?”

“Nah, I heard there’s a maximum IQ if you want to join the team, so I’m not eligible.” 

“I saw your application actually. Turns out IQ wasn’t a problem, it’s that you’re way too short.”

“We literally have Hinata and Hoshiumi playing as starters, what the fuck.”

“Yeah, but that’s because they can literally levitate or something. You’re weighed down by all those muscles, I’d be shocked if you could even jump five centimeters.”

“Aran, if you think I’m hot, you could just say so. You don’t gotta hide it behind lies and insults.” 

“Six centimeters?”

Iwaizumi gave him a look. “I guarantee it’s more than six centimeters.” 

It took a second before it clicked, and Aran choked and kicked Iwaizumi’s foot. “Yer so lame,” he laughed, his Kansai accent slipping out in shocked amusement. Then his eyes flashed and he leaned in. “Iwaizumi. I have a very important question to ask.” 

Iwaizumi’s lips twitched. He said nothing but tipped his head towards Aran, who looked around conspiratorially and whispered gleefully, “Is your dick as muscular as the rest of you? Tiny dick six-pack?”

He found himself laughing on his ass in the aisle of the bus, Iwaizumi grimacing from his seat, legs still outstretched from kicking his seatmate. 

“What the absolute fuck Aran? You’re so fucking weird!”

“I think that means I win,” Aran managed to wheeze as he stood up.

“Not a chance in hell does that count as a win.”

“Aran!!” Atsumu interrupted. “Tell Suna he has to come camping with us! Required team bonding!”

“Chill out, Tsumu. Nobody has to go camping if they don’t want to.”

Atsumu’s gaze heated up. “You’re coming, right Aran?” Hinata and Bokuto waved from their seats. “Aran, ya gotta come! It’ll be super fun! And you can drive some of us, right? You’ve got that SUV!”

Aran glared at a smug Iwaizumi. Looks like he was the winner after all. 

But unfortunately for him, Aran wasn’t always a gracious loser. 

“Only if Iwaizumi comes too,” he replied. Iwaizumi opened his mouth, an excuse at the ready, but found himself cut off by Hinata. 

“Of course Iwaizumi is coming! He’s the one organizing it after all!”

“I… What?”

Thus, several weeks later, Aran and Iwaizumi found themselves herding rambunctious teammates into loaded-up cars for a weekend camping trip early on a summer morning. Atsumu and Sakusa, who had somehow been bribed into coming, likely due to the promise of spending time with Ushijima, were bickering wildly about seating arrangements. Iwaizumi gave Aran an exhausted look. “Can you control your child?”

Aran snorted. “I’m already driving him. Don’t ask any more of me until I finish the rest of this coffee and a few more painkillers.” 

“You guys, knock it off! You’re giving Dad a headache!” Bokuto screeched over his teammates. Everyone suddenly stopped to look at Bokuto. 

“...Dad?” Hinata finally asked.

Bokuto pointed to where Aran and Iwaizumi stood, looking at each other in horror. “Which one of us?...”

“Aran is Dad, because he has a cool beard! And Iwa-chan is Mom because he keeps us alive!” Bokuto explained with a wicked sparkle in his eye. 

The pair just blinked morosely at each other as the team broke down in hysterics. “We can just leave them here,” Aran sighed. “Go back to bed.”

“No, no,” Iwaizumi replied. “Let’s drive them out to the woods and leave them there. That way we never have to deal with them again.” 

Once everyone had calmed down they managed to finish loading all their gear up without further incident. Aran slammed his trunk shut and turned to Iwaizumi with a smile and a bounce in his step. “You ready to head out?” 

Iwaizumi returned the grin. “You seem pretty excited, even considering the company.”

“Well, it’s my first time camping. I’ve been looking forward to trying it.”

Iwaizumi’s smile curved up into something more, and he raised an eyebrow. “It’s your first time, huh?” He said, voice low. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.” He winked, and Aran felt his face heat up. Before a strangled response could cross his lips, the sound of someone choking rattled from the other side of the car and Atsumu appeared.

“Holy shit, are Mom and Dad flirting?” An unholy light appeared in Atsumu’s eyes, and Aran dived in to cut things off as Iwaizumi stiffened next to him. 

“I thought flirting is when you randomly declare that you’re gonna set for some cute boy you’ve barely talked to before,” he sniped.

Iwaizumi was just behind him with the follow-up. “No, I think flirting is when you constantly compliment someone and try to give him extra food at every meal.”

“No, no, true flirting is when you endlessly pick on your crush’s best friend because you’re jealous of their relationship.”

The onslaught is enough to make Atsumu bright red. “Stop, stopp, you assholes! I don’t— I’ve gotta— Hinata—”

“Did you say anything about Hinata, Iwaizumi?” Aran lazily tipped his head as he looked at Iwaizumi. “I certainly didn’t mention any names.”

Atsumu ran, leaving behind two chuckling men. 

“You’re a cruel friend.” Iwaizumi knocked his shoulder against Aran before stretching out his back. Aran tried not to stare. 

“A cruel friend wouldn’t have put up with literal years of pining. Besides, he was gonna be a jerk.”

“Yeah, well.” Iwaizumi raised a hand to the back of his head, and Aran zeroed in on his ears. _Is that a blush?_ “I appreciate the save. We should probably get going though.” 

They piled into separate cars, with Iwaizumi driving his sedan and Aran his SUV, and the fleet of cars pulled out of the parking lot. As soon as they hit the freeway, Atsumu and Suna leaned forward to pester Aran.

“So. You and Iwaizumi, huh?” Suna remarked blandly, uncomfortably close to Aran’s ear. 

Aran can see Hakuba giving him a look from the passenger seat and he resisted the urge to smack Suna. “We’re friends, dumbasses. Like we all are.”

“Yeah, Atsumu mentioned you two looked pretty _friendly_ ,” Hoshiumi called from the back seat, smooshed between the setter and the middle blocker. “You guys are always hanging out together when we get together outside of practice.”

“Yeah, yeah!” Atsumu added excitedly. “And you went hiking together last month!”

 _More like we went hiking three times last month_ , Aran thought absently as he changed lanes. He and Iwaizumi weren’t huge social media users, but Iwaizumi had surprised him by posting a photo they had taken together by a waterfall on one of the outings. When Aran asked, Iwaizumi explained that Oikawa complained he never knew what Iwaizumi was doing, so he decided to humor him for once. Aran didn’t mind. It was a good photo, and seeing himself on Iwaizumi’s Instagram page made his heart race a little, as embarrassing as it was to admit. 

“You and I went and got ramen literally last week Atsumu,” he responded patiently. “Are you telling me that was a date?”

His comment had the desired effect. Atsumu sputtered wildly, but Suna continued to breathe down his literal and figurative neck, much to Aran’s disgruntlement. “Do you guys chat? Like, texts outside of practice and stuff?”

Aran’s mind quickly recalled the hundreds of messages: potential trails they wanted to hike, pictures of American junk food they both missed, and the weird ongoing joke about Mothman that he’s not really sure who started. Iwaizumi even sent him one last night. 

“Just the group chat stuff mostly. Sometimes we complain about our annoying friends.”

The harassment continued for another half-hour, but Aran remained painfully stalwart and the three eventually gave up. The rest of the trip was surprisingly peaceful, mostly due to Hoshiumi and Suna falling asleep on each other while Atsumu played a video game next to them. Hakuba managed to sneak a photo at Aran’s urging, and the two of them talked quietly as the kilometers flew by. 

Everyone arrived at the lakeside campgrounds by late morning (some later than others, with varying excuses and placement of blame) and the ensuing chaos of setting up tents and other supplies consumed them all over the next couple hours. Lunch was a relaxed affair of cold sandwiches and sides from a couple of coolers, and then the group split up. A large group ran to the water, eager to refresh themselves after the drive and the stifling heat that continued to rise, while a smaller group contented themselves with lounging around the camp with books and games. Iwaizumi and Aran, alongside a few others, set off on a hike in the lush woods.

By evening, everyone was worn out but happy. Dinner had long-since passed, and they were sitting around the campfire, faces lit by flame and the full moon, talking shit about each other and sharing stories. More than a few jokes are made about “Mama Iwa” and “Papa Aran,” who reluctantly accepted that the nicknames were likely to stick around for a few weeks at least.

“We should tell ghost stories!” Komori suggested brightly. “Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do when you’re camping?” Yaku, seated to Komori’s right, lit up. “Yeah! I’ve got some great ones. I gave Lev nightmares when he was a first year at training camp.” The libero chuckled fondly, and Aran’s eyes immediately sought Atsumu’s across the fire. They gave each other a look and drank their respective beers. Neither of them would admit it to the rest of the team, but they were both scared shitless by Yaku sometimes. “ _Definitely a Top 3 contender for ‘Most Likely to Stab Someone’ award,_ ” Atsumu had said to Aran’s immense agreement over beers one time. “ _Omi-Omi and Hoshiumi are probably the other frontrunners, but like, I dunno. Yaku just seems the least-likely to get caught, even compared to Omi-Omi, y’know? And he’d probably make it hurt the most._ ”

The current look on Yaku’s face did not help Aran’s firm belief in any of this. “Aren’t we a little old for ghost stories?” He called out, an amused smile on his face. Unfortunately, Atsumu had a similar idea, but with wildly different execution. “We should go skinny dipping!” He yelled desperately over Aran, drowning out every other conversation. “C’mon, it’s so fucking humid still, it’ll feel great!”

“Absolutely not.” Sakusa seemed to shrink into Ushijima’s side. “I see your junk too often in the locker room as is.” Several others seemed to have similar feelings, but as per usual, Atsumu’s chaos quickly ensnared a number of others and they began to overwhelm the rest of the team. 

“C’mon, it’ll be fun! I did it in Brazil a few times with friends.”

“I am not drunk enough for this.”

“You probably shouldn’t be drunk and swimming…”

“Can’t we just wear swimsuits like normal people?”

“No! It’s team bonding!”

“You can’t just call every activity team bonding to get us to do it!” 

Aran felt Iwaizumi slide into the seat next to him. “You joining in?” The trainer asked with a chuckle. Aran just shook his head. “We’ll probably get dragged in if we resist,” he said drily. “Besides, we’ve all seen each other naked at some point or another, so it really doesn’t matter much.”

There was a heartbeat of silence and Aran turned to find Iwaizumi staring pointedly in the fire. A slow grin stretched across Aran’s face. “Except for you, Trainer Iwaizumi.” 

“Shut up.” Iwaizumi sent his sternest look towards Aran, but he just laughed with abandon. A warm feeling had settled in his chest, from the mood, the beer, or just Iwaizumi blushing next to him, and Aran latched onto it. 

“Are you telling me you’ve never gone skinny dipping before? Not even on that famous Seijoh seniors camping trip?”

“Are you telling me you’ve done it before?” Iwaizumi asked incredulously. 

Aran tilted his head and let his lips curl up. “Everyone seems to think of me as Atsumu’s keeper, but they tend to forget that we were dumb teenagers together. I kept him and Osamu out of major trouble—” he winked as he grasped the bottom of his t-shirt and slid it over his head— “but that doesn’t mean we didn’t spend our summers playing board games every night.” 

He stood up, not daring to watch Iwaizumi’s reaction, and walked over to the rest of the team, some of them cheering and some of them groaning. “Are we doing this or what?” He asked, hands on his hips and a devilish smile on his face.

Everyone, through peer pressure or threat of being physically tossed in the lake, eventually joined in. Clothes dropped all along the lakefront and their whoops and screams echoed across the dark nighttime water. Splashing competitions and sneak-attacks were frequent, though many just paddled around and enjoyed the respite from the humidity.

Aran nearly had a heart attack when he caught a glimpse of Iwaizumi’s ass as he chased a cackling Bokuto through the shallows, but somehow managed not to drown. The day, already an excellent one, quickly shot up in the ranks to be a strong possibility as one of the best days of his life. 

Exhaustion and chills began to settle in and the team collectively trooped out of the lake and back up the slope to their tents to get ready to go to sleep. 

Some time later, Aran, clad only in a pair of navy boxers and sandals, drowsily stumbled back towards his tent after brushing his teeth and peeing in the woods. He was always slow, easily distracted while doing any mindless activity, so he assumed he was the last one to turn in for the night. That’s why he nearly shrieked when Iwaizumi suddenly appeared from the shadow of one of the cars. 

“Christ Iwaizumi, make some noise next time,” Aran panted, bending in half and clutching at his chest.

“Sorry, sorry.” Iwaizumi didn’t look sorry at all as he held back an obvious laugh, and Aran rolled his eyes as he stood up, breath finally slowing.

“Yeah, I bet you are. Ass.”

Iwaizumi gave up and let out a bark of laughter. It drifted off into silence as the two finally looked at each other. 

Iwaizumi was in a similar state of undress, but his boxers were green with… “Are those dinosaurs on your underwear?”

Aran was delighted to see Iwaizumi blush. It had been happening more lately, giving him hope, and each instance was a gift. “Godzilla. They were a birthday present from some high school friends,” Iwaizumi muttered. 

“Well, they look good.” It was out of his mouth before Aran could even think. He met Iwaizumi’s surprised look and offered a small, bashful smile, hoping this played out like he thought it might. This weird flirting-but-not-flirting situation had been going on for weeks, and the alcohol, exhaustion, and sight of Iwaizumi blushing made him want to push things to see where it would go next. 

Iwaizumi visibly swallowed, hesitated, then took a step closer to Aran. “...You look good too.” 

Aran looked down at Iwaizumi, grateful for his darker skin. If he had been any paler, the blush racing across his body would have been immediately noticeable. “You enjoyed the midnight swim then I guess?”

“No complaints here.”

They were barely a handspan apart now. “Me neither.” Aran felt his skin burn when Iwaizumi brushed a hand down his forearm. He leaned forward and—

“Iwaizumi-san?” 

They sprung apart, eyes wide as they spun their heads towards the tents. Kageyama, thankfully focused on digging through a backpack rather than their almost-kiss, was walking towards them. “I think I left my battery pack in your car. Do you mind unlocking it for me?”

Iwaizumi cleared his throat. “One second. Let me grab my keys.” 

Kageyama finally looked up, eyes narrowing as he glanced between Aran and Iwaizumi. Before he could open his mouth, Aran blurted out, “Iwaizumi was helping me look for my wallet. If you happen to spot it, would you let me know?”

The confusion disappeared from the setter’s face and he nodded. “Of course. Do you want me to go get a flashlight?”

“No, it’s fine, thank you though. I’ll check around in the morning. I doubt any of the local wildlife will be interested in it after all.” 

Iwaizumi sent Aran a look, but thankfully Kageyama seemed to have no trouble believing that they were looking for a wallet… in the dark… in their boxers.

It was times like these that Aran was truly grateful Kageyama had found a calling in volleyball.

The three walked back towards the tents, and with a parting, lingering glance between Aran and Iwaizumi, they went their separate ways to what promised to be a restless night. 

It was painfully early when Aran finally gave up on sleep. He got a few hours at least, but it wasn’t exactly the quality rest he hoped for. He could hear someone else up, and as he slipped on a shirt and a pair of sweats, he prayed for anyone other than Iwaizumi. 

Aran should have known better. Of course it was Iwaizumi crouched by the fire pit, feeding tiny sticks to a small lick of flames. Aran cleared his throat, and Iwaizumi turned and immediately froze. He looked as tired as Aran felt, but the early-morning light added a softness to Iwaizumi that made Aran want to touch him. 

_It’s too early for this_ , Aran thought. “I’ll get the hot water going,” he croaked, going to collect the kettle. They worked in silence until Iwaizumi grumbled something.

“Sorry, what?”

“I just said that you’re up early.”

“Atsumu kicks,” Aran offered. “Why are you up so early?”

“Rock found its way under my sleeping bag some point in the night. Couldn’t get comfy so I gave up.”

“Ah.”

Aran thought it was nice that they could both lie so neatly that anyone else would believe them, but they would still know that the other one was lying. It was a comforting thought. Though Atsumu really did kick, the bastard. 

Aran rested the half-full kettle on the wire grill above the fire and handed Iwaizumi a camping mug. “Instant coffee or tea?”

“God, coffee, please.”

Aran reached into the box of supplies and pulled out a bottle of instant coffee crystals. He made a face and waved at Iwaizumi. “I’ll be right back.”

One expedition into his car’s glove compartment later, Aran returned with two brown packets and handed one to Iwaizumi. “I keep some fancy instant stuff in my car for emergency caffeine. Still not as good as fresh-brewed, but way better than what Hyakuzawa brought.”

Iwaizumi took the proffered packet gratefully. “And that’s why you’re my favorite.” 

Chuckling softly, Aran tipped the coffee into his empty cup. “I just know to come prepared. I’ve seen you at breakfast when we’re at away games. You’re a beast until you’ve inhaled some caffeine.”

Iwaizumi grunted, not bothering to deny anything, and they let the silence ease over them. It was uncomfortable, but it was an undeniably beautiful morning and things between them began to relax as they watched the lake slowly brighten.

Eventually the water boiled, and Aran filled both their cups along with some milk from a cooler and a couple sugar packets they scrounged up. They sipped their drinks a few feet away from each other, but halfway through his cup Iwaizumi suddenly straightened up. “Hold on, I just remembered something. One second.”

He eased off the ground and slipped over to his own car. Aran watched curiously then slid off the log and onto the ground, letting his eyes slide shut. He wondered if he could squeeze in a 30-second power nap.

His attempts were thwarted when a box landed in his lap. He pried an eye open before they both shot open in surprise. “Where did you find these?” Aran looked back and forth between Iwaizumi and the box of plain Ritz crackers as if one of them would disappear. 

Iwaizumi grinned down at him. “Import store. I was getting pretty desperate trying to find the plain ones and was close to asking some California friends to mail me a box, but this one shop had a few. Oh yeah,” he added, and drew his arm out from behind his back, tossing another item towards Aran. He clutched the small jar of Jif peanut butter tightly and stared at Iwaizumi.

“...Why?”

“Breakfast, duh.” Iwaizumi sat beside Aran, closer than before, and studied his coffee intently. “You mentioned it was your favorite snack as a kid. Thought it would make a good camping trip snack.”

Aran was speechless. He swallowed tightly and looked down at the gifts in his hands with a reverence he didn’t dare show Iwaizumi. Gently, he set them down on his other side. 

A frown quickly appeared on Iwaizumi’s face. “Did I get the brands wrong?” He asked tersely. 

“No, they’re perfect. They’ll just taste terrible with coffee,” Aran quickly explained. “Thank you so much, Iwaizumi. It’s the best gift I’ve gotten in a while. Really, I can’t wait to eat the whole package later.”

Iwaizumi’s shoulders dropped and he gave a quick nod. “I’m glad.”

The quiet returned again, but it was a wholly different experience this time. The sun was fully up now, the birds were singing, and Aran could feel an excitement thrumming in his veins. 

“I could get used to this,” Aran finally commented once his cup was empty.

“You liked camping that much?” Iwaizumi asked easily, glancing up. 

Aran wasn’t thinking of camping when he said that. He was thinking of waking up and drinking coffee in blissful peace with a particular man at his side. Though, he wouldn’t mind another camping trip, especially if it was just him and Iwaizumi.

He toyed with his empty coffee cup as he considered a joking, flirtatious response, par for course of the last few weeks, but he knew it wasn’t the time. He had been gifted this moment, and he was going to use it. He wasn’t going to be a passive actor. 

Aran set the coffee cup aside and gave his full attention to Iwaizumi. “It was fun to spend time with everyone. But I was referring to right now.” He held Iwaizumi’s gaze and shifted closer. 

Iwaizumi’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh?”

“Yeah. There’s… there’s nobody I would rather spend time with than you.”

Iwaizumi swayed towards Aran. “You’re not half-bad yourself, you know.”

Aran rolled his eyes and huffed an amused breath. “Do you always have to pick a fight?”

“Pretty much, yeah. You okay with that?”

Their faces almost touched. “Yeah.”

And then Aran’s lips were pressed against Iwaizumi’s.

It was soft and tentative, their mouths gently moving against each other before reluctantly breaking apart. Green and gray eyes met briefly, and then they kissed again, more eager this time. Aran’s arm slipped up and around Iwaizumi’s shoulders, drawing him closer, and Iwaizumi clutched at the front of Aran’s shirt. 

Suddenly, the sound of a tent zipper echoed loudly behind them, and they frantically broke apart. They watched as Ushijima stepped out of his tent and grunted at them in greeting as he walked to the woods, clearly eager to relieve his bladder.

Iwaizumi and Aran looked at each other once Ushijima was out of sight, faces red, and then burst out in simultaneous laughter.

“We can’t catch a fucking break,” Iwaizumi wheezed as he rested his head against his knees. 

“At least it was Ushijima this time,” Aran choked out. “Imagine if it was Atsumu or Suna.”

“Have I mentioned that I loathe your teammates?”

“They’re yours too!”

“It’s probably for the best though,” Iwaizumi sighed after finally catching his breath. Before Aran could panic, he added, “My breath probably stank like morning breath and coffee.”

“Is that your polite way of saying my breath stank?” Aran grimaced.

Iwaizumi grinned and ran a hand through his hair. “Honestly, I didn’t notice. I was just excited to finally… you know.”

Others quickly followed Ushijima, either woken by the pairs’ laughter or the call of nature, and the day progressed as planned. The early risers finagled a breakfast for the rest of the group and they spent the morning playing around camp and taking walks. Eventually they began the laborious journey of packing up everything for the road trip home, and as they did a final sweep of the campground, Iwaizumi grabbed Aran and dragged him behind Aran’s SUV. 

“Want to meet up when we get back?” Iwaizumi immediately offered, staring intently up at Aran. 

“Ah… would tomorrow after practice be okay? I kind of smell and I want some actual sleep in my bed.” Aran shrugged apologetically. He already kissed Iwaizumi with morning coffee breath; he didn’t want anything else to happen before he had a chance to be vaguely presentable. 

“You change your mind about how fun camping is?” Iwaizumi smirked.

Aran gave him a cutting look. “Nah. It let me finally get a look at that ass, so yeah, I’d say it was a pretty good experience.” 

Iwaizumi took a quick look around before reaching up to plant a brief but firm kiss on Aran’s mouth. “The view wasn’t terrible for me either.”

“Not terrible? I am a _professional athlete_. What more do you want from me?!” 

“Please, I’ve got my hands all over professional athletes everyday. Nothing I haven’t seen before,” Iwaizumi winked as he backed away from a gaping Aran. “But someone who can make a good cup of coffee in the middle of the wilderness and looks pretty decent when they clean up? Well, that’s a different story.” 

“What about defending you from hooligans? Any extra points for that?” Aran questioned drily, abandoning any hope of defending his pride.

“Oh, at least two points.”

“Huzzah for me.”

“Oh, were we talking about you? I thought this was about Ushijima.”

“I will sic Atsumu on you and pour salt in your coffee,” Aran whispered cheerfully as he strolled past Iwaizumi and gave his butt a passing appreciative pat. 

“Hey.” Iwaizumi chuckled and grabbed his arm. Aran smiled but pointedly tilted his head towards the sound of their approaching teammates. Iwaizumi shook his head. “Before we go, I just wanted to make sure you knew - I like you, Aran.”

Aran softened. “Don’t worry, I knew. The crackers and peanut butter convinced me that I wasn’t just imagining things. And for the record, I like you too, Iwaizumi.”

Iwaizumi nodded and let go. “Text you later?”

“Yeah.” Aran hesitated, then dipped his head and pressed a kiss to Iwaizumi’s temple before rounding the side of the car.

Aran discovered Atsumu loudly complaining about something to Suna with Bokuto and Hinata loudly commentating as if announcing a sporting event. “Quit fighting and go put your stuff in the cars, children. We gotta hit the road soon.” If they were going to call him Dad, Aran figured he might as well use the accompanying privileges. 

He watched as they drifted away, Iwaizumi slipping in among them, and bent down to fix his shoe. He nearly fell when he realized Atsumu was crouching beside him with an apologetic look. 

“Sorry ‘bout that. I walked over first and caught part of yer conversation with Iwa-chan, so I had to do somethin’ to keep those dorks from hearing.” Aran stared at him in shock, and Atsumu’s face slid into a knowing smirk and waggled his eyebrows. “So? Ya ready to admit you’re finally a thing now?” 

Aran didn’t know if he wanted to shove him or thank him, but he decided he owed Atsumu something of an answer, especially since he knew if he remained mum on the subject Atsumu would just bring it up in front of other people to get his way. _Maybe I should shove him after all._ Instead, Aran replied, “Thanks for your help. We are something, yeah. Gonna figure it out when we get home.” 

Atsumu patted him on the back, gave a cheeky grin, and said, “Good. Can’t go around with an unwed mother and father after all. Looks bad on the team.” 

Aran knocked him over with a well-placed kick, and grinned.

**Author's Note:**

> HQ Rarepair Week 2021, Day 1: **Firsts** | Domestic | **Confessions**
> 
> If you were wondering why Iwaizumi was chasing Bokuto, it’s because Bokuto 100% snuck up and slapped him on the ass for shits and giggles. Bokuto regrets nothing.
> 
> Come yell with me about HQ and other weeb things on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/HazukiNinja) (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ


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